Sister Oracle
by Piccylo
Summary: Uranai Baba was once a tall witch without a brother and profoundly bored with how predictable things are. But a fighter in the family makes things a little bit more fun.
1. Random Element

Disclaimer: Don't own Dragonball, nor am I affiliated with anyone involved with it. Not Toriyama, not Bird Studios, and _definitely_ not FUNimation. This fic will be rated T, so the material will be as suggested for the age.

* * *

"O, Oracle of Oracle, Seer of Seers, speak me: How am I to remove such a deadly curse from my bones?"

The king's voice quivered as he sat alone, his attendants soberly at bay with grave faces, all subdued by the heavy air that surrounded them in this place. He stayed kneeled on a cushion before a slender woman in black and tried not to focus on how his sweat trickled down his sleeved arm to run across the back of his fisted hand that sat over his knee. The woman had stayed silent as he described his brother's curse, eyes holding onto his with a burning glare only fit for a living statue.

Now, with his question finally asked, she slowly bowed her head in thought, which tipped her peaked, wide-brimmed hat, and the resulting shadow obscured her face in darkness. Soon, her slender hands passed over the large crystal globe that sat in her lap, and a shimmer could be seen from within it, beyond the shadows made by her fingers, sparking and traveling like the firing of a galactic synapse. The smoke from the incense seemed to gain thickness, and the flames from the cauldrons behind her changed hues and grew higher, but the room appeared dimmer as a result.

Softly, she made _"waah, waah"_ sounds from her own mouth, as if some sort of private mantra. Her hands floated with the rhythm of the vowels in circles, as if she was churning the smoke and light in and around the ball herself.

The king, growing old in years and white in hair, gulped anxiously. This woman before him, this witch, was told to be the best of all fortunetellers, always right in prediction and true in advice. What if she says there is no hope for him? What if what the remedy was worse than the illness? More troublesome sweat dropped from beneath his crown as he watched her calmly continue her work. He could just barely see in the darkness her half-closed eyes and her serious face.

A minute or so had passed, even though it had felt to him as an eternity. But, quite to his gratitude, a broad grin finally split her face.

"I've got it."

The king jerked into an attentive pose. "Yes?"

"The curse the elder brother placed on you is a simple one. It does not threaten your life, but if you ignore it, it may suck out the _joy_ you take in it."

He shivered. "Is… is that so…"

"No worries; since it is so simple, it can be alleviated by a very simple daily ritual."

"A daily ritual?"

"Every morning, when you wake, do the purifying motions taught of a yoga master in your kingdom, and then swim once the circumference of your clear pool under your balcony. You may swim more if you wish, but no less! This ritual will purify your bones of your brother's curse over time, but do not let up on them, for the curse may come back without warning."

"I see!" The king's eyes lit and he gave his sincerest smile to the witch. "You have my undying gratitude, overtop your fee! Thank you so much for taking this horrid bourdon off of my shoulders!" After a few more etiquette-induced lines of thanks, he shortly left with his entourage, already barking orders to find the most capable yoga master to bring before him. The money was paid in full, and the fortuneteller—who was, at this time, only really known as _Uranai_—had earned more in this little visit than most people earn in a lifetime, and money was really her only true vice.

And yet, she sighed and leaned on her hand. "I was hoping since it was a king it'd at least be a little… _interesting_…"

Her attendant—a small ghost—appeared from nothingness and came to hover beside her. "But aren't curses interesting, Master?"

"Not if they aren't actually curses. All he had was some mild arthritis that started just about the time he executed his brother. His brother shouts a curse as his last words, his arthritis starts to bother him a little more, and he decides the aches and pains are because of a dying man's last breath. That 'ritual' I gave him is only some exercises to keep his ligaments healthy. Maybe if he went to a doctor instead, he'd have realized this."

She picked up a coin and examined it. "Ah… I still profit from his foolishness, though, so I don't suppose it should matter. And yet… I've been doing this for almost, what, one-hundred-eighty years? Still, I'm allowed to be a little bored of it, right? I might look young for my age, but that doesn't mean I don't feel time like everyone else."

"Perhaps you should visit your parents. Your mother has been sending messages to see you for months."

"Yeah, yeah. Old hag can go walk off a pier, already. They know I hate going to visit home, but they nag and nag and nag anyway, telling me to not miss birthdays, not miss holidays… I've seen almost two hundred birthdays and I don't see what's so important about them. 'Only once a year'… yeah, and once a year comes too often if you ask me!"

"It's your duty as the only child, isn't it?"

"Feh! Sometimes I wish I had a sibling just to not have to hear about my duties as a child. Why should I have duties just because I was born first and last?"

"It's a change of pace, anyway. Shouldn't you at least go by?"

"Fine, fine, I already decided I should go, anyway, might as well go now." Uranai pulled back her long hair and tied it before plucking up a pair of sunglasses to wear. She thought better of it a moment, firstly changing out of her robes into something a little easier to move around in before setting the shades on her nose. "There. Might as well make a holiday of it."

"That's the spirit," the little ghost chuckled, "Perhaps you should see the weather to prepare as well."

"No, that's a waste of time. I'll just bring an umbrella and be done with it. It always rains when I visit."

.-.-.

A fortuneteller's words are fate, one way or the other, because it was pouring as she rode up, her crystal ball sitting beside her in the seat on its own cushion. She paid it no mind and merely opened an umbrella as she exited from the car, beckoning her ball to follow her out into the weather. It's course only wavered slightly with the strong gusts smacking against it, making it dance a few twirls in the air before it continued following its master like a duckling. It sparkled as rain poured down it from above.

Without much of an announcement, Uranai threw open the door of her parents' house and tossed the soggy umbrella aside. "I'm here!"

The gray form of her father—who was not aging quite as well as mother—scurried out into the living room with his face lit as bright as a thousand candles. "My honored daughter! You've come! And at such a perfect time! I told your mother you were merely waiting for the best time to come!"

It didn't occur to her that he was boasting on her clairvoyance. "What's the big deal? Did I finally land in on someone's birthday this time?"

He looked at her with a slight bit of confusion, but the smile returned as sunny as ever. "You hit a birthday, all right. Come, come!" His feeble hand wrapped around her wrist and she found herself being pulled through the hallways.

"Oi!" She called, the ball still floating behind her with its singular purpose. "What's all this about? Where's Mother?"

"She's in here, and so is the birthday boy."

"Wha?"

They entered the room, where her mother was in bed, a doctor at her side. Uranai would have commented on her laziness (for there was no way she could be ill), and had every mind to, but a baby's cry startled her out of her skin and she zipped her head about for what she was certain was a ghost that made the sound.

"My first child is finally here! You always do come at the most dramatic times, don't you, Daughter? Come, meet your little brother."

"Huh?" Uranai's own feet lead her to her mother's bedside, and she peered down as if compelled. For long moments, she wondered at the thing in her hands. Was that a small, hairless monkey? It sure had beady eyes. Wait, no, that isn't a monkey. The little thing blinked at her, then shut its eyes from the light it wasn't used to. Strange. Why, if Uranai didn't know any better, she'd say this thing was…

Her eyes flew and she shrieked. "A BABY?"

The little thing's eyes popped back open and it started wailing again.

Father didn't seem upset; indeed, he laughed with good nature "Look at this! She's even surprised about it."

"Impossible! Children at your age! What were you thinking? Nevermind that… how could this even _happen?_ Brother? I have a brother? What nerve do you have to bring a son into this world when your daughter is already in her two-hundreds! Ahhhh impossible impossible impossible this can't be happening!" She fisted her hands into her pink hair.

"It isn't that unusual, Daughter," her mother said with a smirk, "I'm not all shriveled up yet. It'll take a while. But I'm glad I could have another child before I end up a shriveled up little woman like your grandmother. You should look into having children, too; your youth isn't going to last forever, either, fountain or not."

"Don't you dare change the subject! I'm not going to play big sister at my age!"

"Really, starting an argument all ready, just like you." Mother sighed and shook her head. "So ungrateful, even though your long life is partially from my good genes. She won't even give her poor little brother the time of day. Isn't that sad?"

"No! You will not guilt trip me into this!"

"Nevermind all that I've had to do as a mother, birthing her, changing her, raising her…"

"It won't work!"

"And yet she would abandon her only brother… the only brother she'll ever see in her whole long life…"

"I mean it…! I'm serious!"

"Just look at him! Oh, he's crying. Don't worry, even if your sister abandons you, there's always your mother!"

"Erhhh…"

"Unless of course…"

"FINE!"

* * *

"Uranai" just means "fortuneteller". She's called "Uranai Baba" in the manga, but it seemed silly to call her "Baba" (crone/old woman) when she's still young.


	2. Turtle Curtains

Disclaimer: Check out chapter one.

Story conventions are hard. At first.

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"I haven't been sick in a whole month! This is cause for celebration!"

Uranai glared half-heartedly at her mother, too tired to scream and yell in dissent as she had been since her little brother was born. It took very little guilt tripping to make her finally consent to be over to visit constantly… to the point that she was more than just a guest, and forced her to put her own business on hold for the time being. Well, things were going slow anyway; almost no one could afford her prices, and those who could rarely had anything interesting for her to look in on.

Well, maybe she needed the break, but being blackmailed to help out her mother, who decided she was weak after the birth was not exactly the kind of vacation she had in mind. The rain stopped, sure, but that didn't mean that things were exactly pleasant. Her dotty father blissfully ignored his daughter's rising annoyance at the situation of being reduced to a nursemaid for both mother and baby.

She would never admit that she didn't mind taking care of the baby so much; he cried in an alarming way, and it kept her awake at hours she didn't want to be awake, and he never kept his socks on no matter how many times she slipped them back over his feet, but he was adorable and her brother and she already decided that she loved him… decided without declaring it to anyone and being sure she was utterly alone with him when she chanced a smile.

"Since I'm feeling so well, let's go shopping."

Uranai groaned. "You mean you want me to buy you presents."

"Well, Dear Daughter, shouldn't you buy some things for your new brother's birthday?"

"The one that was a month ago?"

"His _first_ one that was a month ago, dear. Come, now. I know just where to go."

"Why don't I just give Father some cash and you go with him?"

"Oh, men don't understand anything about babies, dear, and it's high time you learned a thing or two about them."

She frowned at her mother. This was the same excuse offered nearly every time she was forced to do something against her will. "Must I? I don't plan on having children, you know."

"Hold that tongue of yours!"

"Guh. Yes, Mother."

Shopping is the sort of pastime that only very specific people enjoy, and almost all of those people are materialistic. This isn't to say Uranai isn't materialistic, but shopping for someone else with her own money never settled well with her, being one of the many reasons she didn't care about birthdays, and being lead through bazaars she'd rather not walk through.

"What about this toy horse and barn?"

Uranai scratched her head. "Why isn't the horse in a stable?"

"Oh, I'm sure you can get the stable separately…"

"He won't like it. Besides, he's too young for it."

"He'll grow into it."

"Then get him toys he likes when he's old enough for them. I know he won't like that. I am a fortuneteller, remember? Why should I buy a present he won't like, even when he's old enough for it?"

"You're just being cheap."

"Look, lets get these curtains for him. The ones with the turtle embroidery. He'll like them, I promise, and that room of his needs curtains. It's too bright when the sun shines through that side of the house and it wakes him up from his naps all the time.

"Hmm, but turtle embroidery? Shouldn't we get him something with brighter colors? Babies develop better with colors, right?"

"Look, it's this or something plain. I don't know how colors develop babies, and I don't care." Uranai crossed her arms. "I'm a fortuneteller, not a doctor in training!"

"No need to be so grumpy."

"I haven't been _allowed_ to be grumpy the past month! You were the one that took the privilege!"

Despite this, she still was goaded into spending more money than she meant, all on toys and things that her mother swore that she needed, despite that the crib they had was working just fine, that the cloth they were using for diapers were sufficient and the pins used to bind them strong enough. Maybe this was before the times where new parents would break the bank and go on credit trying to get brand new things for their brand new baby, but Uranai still found herself having to sign an IOU at the end of the day, screaming "I'll sign when I want to sign. Don't push me!" as she tried to read over the paperwork, her mother once again trying to pull her away to yet another bazaar of things that the merchants are selling for more than they're worth (and the constant pulling doesn't allow for time to haggle).

It was timed to leave if the pockets are empty as far as Uranai was concerned, but the mother wouldn't hear of it and at least conned her to have a little lunch which they were out. The daughter had to relent once again to her childish mother, but she chose the place to eat: a small cafe that looked nice, quiet, and far out of sight form those horrid bazaars.

She was successfully taking some time to enjoy a sandwich in peace when her mother piped up again. "Oh, look at that young man!"

Uranai ignored it. Surely it was another attempt to push her into meeting a guy that she could date, and then marry, and then have children of her own with. One stint through the marketplace like that was well enough for the rest of her long life, thank you very much! Besides, at two hundred years old, she would still be robbing the cradle of nearly any man she came up to.

"Surely you can take a peak, dear! He's quite handsome. And he looks athletic. Aren't the athletic boys your type?"

They were once. She didn't really think about it anymore though, so she just shrugged and pretended that she was too preoccupied with her tea and sandwich.

"At least give him a glance! Humor your old mother, will you?"

_The past month has been nothing but humoring you, you old bag! _Uranai didn't let her opinion show and chewed as if still in blissful silence.

"Oh... oh wait, nevermind. I see he's a fighter. Just got a good look of that gi he's wearing. What a shame."

"Fi'der?" she mumbled through the crumbs she was chewing, finally looking over. Sure enough, there was a tall, well-built man in the traditional Chinese silk uniform of someone trained in hand-to-hand combat. Sure, not a bad looker, but something about his presence—the timing of it—tweaked her interest.

The mother shook her head and sighed. "Fighters aren't good husbands, and even worse fathers. They're good grandfathers if they live that long, but that means a generation must suffer through them first. No daughter of mine will bring a fighter into this family, of course; just because our long life in this family might be attributed to skills that originated in martial arts doesn't mean we should degrade back to it."

Uranai ignored her mother's prattle and tried to think of why the timing is so significant. Because it was very, _very_ significant. Down to her bones, she felt a vibration like some associate with ominous thunder and lining up of planets. Damn, why didn't she bring her crystal ball with her?

"He is such a waste of good looks and toned muscles." A sigh. "Don't you agree, daughter?"

"What? Oh sure. Whatever."

"Hum? Don't tell me you fell for him. Didn't I just say..."

"I didn't fall for anything or hear anything important. Are you finished with your sandwich? I'm feeling tired suddenly, and I have an itch to get back to my ball."

"Don't tell me you're going back to work so soon!"

"Uh, I didn't say that." Uranai stood and picked up her hat and sunglasses. "I just want to see my ball. I have an inkling of something."

"Oh, very well. You've been perfectly abysmal company this outing, anyway."

.-.-.

Another month of Uranai's time managed to be whittled away. By that point, she had given up, appeased her foolish mother's spoiling, and pretended that her father wasn't simply dodging away with the smile of a man that's been around for too long. The little brother wasn't any superb genius of anything; as if something like that could be discovered at two months. But the ebbs and shocks that lead from him indicated that he was quite possibly destined to be something of a genius later on.

How later on is beyond her, but she made a secret promise to him, away from the ears of the parents and most likely away from his own memory, that she would come in and check on him. Many, many aspects of her little brother was excitingly... unpredictable. Something about fighting, she knew. Would he be a fighter? A warrior in time? Mother wouldn't like that, but what did she know, anyway?

Is it because it's her little brother? Is it because of fighting? Martial arts had its own pulse, and so did the world itself, and her little brother's pulse met with them in tempo more than once. What did that mean? It just seemed in passing, but what destiny came from this?

The farther she tried to look, the fuzzier it would get. The only answer she could ever get from her ball was the professional equivalent of "reply hazy, try again". It was a little unnerving... but, more than that, liberating! A random element... no longer knowing life itself like a bad rehash of the same plot over and over again.

When it came to leave, it looked pretty easy, but her mother wasn't going to let her leave without one final shot. "Why don't you invite us up some time? Send someone to pick us up, maybe? Something comfortable, so your brother can rest during the ride."

"I'm not chasing my servants from my house, so forget it."

"Who said anything about—oh, right. Those ghosts. But those things are absolutely appauling. Spirits of the dead. They leave a chill wherever they go, and speak so oddly. It's unnerving. How can you stand them?"

"I think they're a little easier to get along with," she answered with a huff. After all, most humans don't live to the age of two-hundred. But a ghost? Vast majority of those were much, much older. Just by age they're better to relate with.

"At least curb them off for your little brother! Poor thing shouldn't have nightmares!"

"Nightmares? Feh! He doesn't even understand the concept of fear yet; how can he have nightmares?"

"Even the youngest healthy child would know to steer clear of the dead! Why, you just don't get out enough. Your own health must be waning."

Finally, the father laid a hand on his wife's shoulder. "Let it die, dear. Just... let it die." He smiled. "Our daughter does very well in her home, and if we do go visit, we shouldn't impose ourselves."

Uranai nearly gasped in relief, since it was rare enough to get her father's help and she almost feared he'd stay silent yet again. It left her just enough room to escape: give the parting gift while Mother is still befuddled, pick up everything, and run off with quick valedictions. It worked, too, like she knew it would, since the present was a great distraction.

Uranai watched her mother's reaction to finding a mummified kappa hand in the box on her crystal ball while she rode home. Ah, all ends to two months of hell should be so good.


	3. And The Hare

Disclaimer: Chapter one.

Anyone who thinks that I can write is obviously in some sort of delirium.

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Little Brother was bright enough to learn that girls wear lace and hairpins when he was a younger age than most boys with this realization. Maybe one could credit that to having good female influence in his life, but Big Sister never bothered with that stuff; wasn't her style. She liked her black cloak just fine and enjoyed letting her pink hair fly loose. It was more probably because the boy just seemed to like girls more than he did boys. Oh sure, he played with boys, but he gave special attention to girls with a grin that was a little more than friendly long before most kids actually "discover" the opposite sex.

Uranai took that as a good sign. He was healthy, happy, and much farther ahead when it appeared beside other kids that he was behind.

This easy association is what had her nicknaming the kid as "Turtle", starting with his turtle crawl. His movement remained slow and clumsy, never revving up to the fast crawl other babies got. Time passed at six, seven, eight, nine months with no speed gained… but at ten months he was walking around like he owned the place, getting his paws into everything he could, hardly a toddle in his toddling. His baby babble was utter nonsense—not even imitations of sounds he heard—until he spoke out a sentence with three words ("I want that.") at a little after his first birthday. Nonsensical social sounds came a little later.

Similar, it took him a while to get interested in socializing with others his age, but when he did, he jumped comfortably into the idea that _friends_ are fine but _girls_ are finer. He was wise and dumb at the same time, ready enough to make stupid mistakes, but only after he finds out that the stupid mistakes are the ones he was willing to chance. Uranai didn't need to look in her crystal ball to determine that this mindset will certainly not make him wealthy in his future (a pity!) but he likely wouldn't starve, either (no need to lend him money). Turtle still turned out to be a good nickname, because he did seem to have the affinity to them that she predicted, much to their mother's confusion.

And he was infinitely more likeable than her mother to spend time with, so when she got missives to visit home, she'd go and do her best to avoid her mother, using Turtle as a great excuse to get away under the guise of "instilling sibling togetherness". He was, thankfully, not a brat. Just a little strange, and there's nothing wrong with that.

When taking the little tortoise boy out to a local ice cream shop, she was surprised to see that the man who ran it wasn't at the register. Instead was his son, who was still in his bleary years of being a teenager when he's got too much on his mind and the hormones don't help. She raised a brow to the father, sitting down with his head leaned back. "Can't you get up and give me your cone? Your kid here somehow always has it melty before we get it."

That kid looked indignant at the comment, but said nothing. The owner only shrugged. "What? You expected me to break into song and dance right away? Recovery is a delicate matter!"

"Recovery?" It took a moment for her to remind herself that this man was once a professional wrestler who still dabbled in his old trade from time to time. On her ball she'd seen that he broke his arm not too long ago. She blurted out her faux pas without thinking. "Oh wow. I can't believe I forgot about that. I'm really sorry."

"An apology? From you?" A busy brow raised at her and his smirk broke through. "This is the last thing I expected to hear you say."

"Hey, give me a break. My brain is still full of prophecies about blights to wheat crops that feed nations and predictions on pinch battles that could decide wars. I'm allowed to be a little off when I'm already a little off."

"Whatever you say, you young-looking 'baba'. Son, make sure you warm the scoop more before using it, huh? It helps getting the ice cream quicker, so the whole batch can keep its cold longer."

"Can I hav' chocolate swirl?" Turtle asked without a care about the conversation.

"Sure thing."

.-.-.

"Look! We're almost to the obelisk."

"I don' wanna. Can we go back to the station?"

"What? But we always visit the obelisk!" Uranai looked down at her little brother, tempted to show him a scornful glare. She liked going to the obelisk, damnit! It gave off an interesting vibe (from years of idol worship in the area) that most other people couldn't detect except in the most subliminal sense, and at that point made them avoid it because they didn't understand it. But she enjoyed it just as she'd enjoy a sit in a graveyard, because after you get over the strangeness of it, the spirits could be quite personable. Pleasant, even.

Turtle looked up at her with an impish frown, the sort that curled the lips in more ways than a smile ever could. "Do we hav'ta?"

"Yes! Now, come on, you!" She took his hand and walked briskly. "Just because you might find it boring doesn't mean I don't enjoy it!"

"Tha's not—aah!" He was jerked around through the crowd towards the structure. The surrounding area was never empty—it was a tourist attraction in this place, after all—but it did lack the walking noise the street had. Uranai found the strip of path surrounding it she preferred and took it. It was the one that looped around through trees planted in the park the obelisk marked the center of. It didn't wander too far and the structure could always be seen just above the trees, so if (when) Turtle ran off the path, it'd be easy to find the way back after going to catch him.

Turtle was uncommonly well behaved this time around, despite the chance of rebellion he showed her earlier. Maybe he figured that the quieter he was, the sooner they'd get back to the station and to home? Well, he was smart in unexpected ways, but it still struck Uranai a little strange; he didn't seem tired. He just didn't want to go to the obelisk today. Probably just bored of the obelisk and the park surrounding it.

"Hey, honey."

Uranai felt a tap at her shoulder. Her eyes flew wide and she turned with a ready-made glare.

A tall man with thick cords of muscle smiled at her. "You walk through this park alone often?"

"Not often enough." She turned to keep walking with a growl. This time, his heavy hand fell down onto her shoulder and stopped her in place.

"Don't brush me off like that. I like dames like you. Not often I get to see such nice pink hair. Say, does the carpet ma—"

"If I wanted to talk to you, I'd find out where you sleep. Which, by the way, I can still do. Easily. So, leave me alone." She tried to pull away, but he held on tighter.

"No way. Not letting a pretty thing like you get away." He pulled her closer. "Why you wear this strange witches robe, anyway?"

"What part of 'Leave me alone' did you not understand?" She successfully tugged away this time. "And I guarantee I'm five times your age. Now buzz off!"

She managed to get a few meters away before he caught up with her again. "Hey! Why so frigid, huh? What's so different between us, just because of some black robes…"

Uranai pulled away again and whirled around, pointing a finger at his chest. "What is the difference between you and me? I'll tell you what that is! You're a muscle-bound moron living off an hourly wage, and I'm a fortune-telling entrepreneur that's been prophesizing the future before your great grandparents were even born." She sneered. "We're not from same worlds. We're not even from _similar_ worlds. And I know that you're trouble, just want to say that you had a time with a pink-haired chick. Get away from me."

She turned to walk away again, but she didn't take many steps before she was suddenly lifted off of the ground. "Hey! Put me down!"

"I don't think so, missy. Your fortune-telling powers should've told you that I don't take rejection well."

"Release me this instant!"

"Not until I've had my fun." He patted her rump, and she screeched in anger. How dare he! The insolence! Well, damnit, with just a few mutters she could summon spirits up that'd do some damn good damage, she'd assure! Well, not that she knew a lot of necessarily powerful spirits, but he would probably freak out over a headless man…

A fruit bowl soared through the air and broke over his head, apples and grapes raining down his shoulders shortly before he passed out from the bludgeoning trauma. Uranai scrambled as he fell to land on her feet, succeeded, and looked up to see her savior.

Little Turtle had his hands outstretched and a bag filled with various odds and ends he'd gotten from who-knows-where spilling out of it beside him. She glanced around and saw that there were a few previous attempts of Something Heavy being thrown at the guy who was trying to kidnap his big sister.

"I knew he was bad!" Turtle huffed and crossed his arms. "See? He was bad. I could tell he was bad. I didn't want to come but you came anyway, even though he was bad."

Uranai didn't understand what he meant at first, right now just grateful that he did something, and feeling more than a little satisfaction that her little brother had knocked out the nuisance; he deserved it.

Turtle kept on with his tirade. "You're smarter than that, sis! You know things that other people don't! But he was bad, and I could tell. And he's kind of strong. I could tell that, too. I wanted to avoid him, because sis isn't that strong. Well, sis isn't weak, but sis isn't strong like _that_. And Daddy says men should protect women, so I went to get something to throw at him to protect you."

Something finally dawned on her. "Turtle… how could you tell he was bad and strong? We didn't see him coming towards the obelisk."

"I could tell. I could feel it. You know, like feeling rain coming. But not like that. You're good at these things, sis."

Well, sure, Uranai was good at things like that, but she (admittedly) had more of a foot in the spiritual world than the physical. She could sense a strong fighter, but not as well as another strong fighter could, certainly.

A strong fighter… Didn't martial arts have a weave towards him? He hadn't shown any leaning towards it since he was born, but suddenly…

"You know, you're right, Turtle. Don't mention this outing to our mother. In fact, don't talk about our outings at all from now on."

"Huh?"

"She, uh, would get jealous. Yeah. She'd feel left out if she heard about all the fun you're going to have from now on, that I'll take you to have, and she'll stop letting you have it."

"Fun? Fun with what?"

"I'm going to bring you to play with other kids. Mostly older kids, and they might be impatient with you at first, but I bet you'll catch up." She rubbed his head. "Slow and steady wins the race."


	4. Red Fox

Disclaimer: Check the first chapter.

Someday I'll do a chapter early, instead of squeezing in at the last second.

* * *

Money brings leisure and leisure brings sloth. But being lazy turned out to not do well for Uranai, as she found much earlier in her rich life. A few months of wallowing in it without shame brought unfortunate consequences. She saw herself turn her every bit as cranky and fat as her mother was—unthinkable!—and it took months to recuperate from the horrid, self-destructive behavior.

Since then, she has tried to keep herself active and entertained… for even the multitude of dead (which rises every few seconds) could grow dull. And besides, it wasn't like she had to stay at her mansion all the time. She didn't cook and clean (ghostly servants did that for her, and there was no way she would lower herself to scrub just to make herself more "active"), and she made more than enough to "set her own hours" and take vacations whenever she wished… so long as some pushy noble doesn't come in demanding an answer to the puzzle his dead father had left with his final breath.

In any case, there were plenty of chances to get out and enjoy life… if you could convince a fortuneteller at her age that there's still something left that she can enjoy, that is. The most difficult part was finding something new that wasn't boring.

A little brother came with plenty of activity… at a price, of course.

Uranai had decided—partially on whim from looking in the mirror and declaring "Look at all the blubber. I disgust myself."—to join in the "fun" (folly of follies) when she pushed Turtle into learning martial arts. It was easy enough to convince her mother that she was just bringing her little brother out for a little weekly spin through the city. Sibling quality time and all that crock. Her father believed it a little more wholeheartedly, but the mother just seemed happy do be given a free day of babysitting a week.

Then, it came to finding a teacher. The sensei of the dojo she took him to was an old monk that taught out of a cellar which looked like he lived in as well. He didn't have many students, but the ones that came were pushed hard, no matter their age. Turtle himself was hardly the age most people would think would be appropriate for learning martial arts. But the sensei didn't seem to think so, and that's why Uranai chose him.

But, since she joined in on the lessons, Uranai found herself pushed just as hard and always came out with an aching body that suddenly felt as old as she actually was. Turtle, however, took it with the boundless stamina children have and was still able to chirp happily to his sister after the lessons.

Uranai groaned as they left from the cellar-dojo. "Why is it that you're so energetic while I feel like dying?"

Turtle smiled sunnily and shrugged. _He's a cute kid,_ she thought to herself. _It'll be a shame when he grows up._ "Lets go get some iced sweets."

"Yay!"

This was a time where ice wasn't too cheap, but it was obtainable and money wasn't an issue to Uranai when it came to buying luxuries. They got some shaved ice, Turtle getting a sweet cherry-flavored cone, and Uranai getting a more adult one that had been flavored and sweetened with treacle. Treating her little brother was, compared to her mother, a joy. He appreciated what he was given, even if he did seem to have the bearings of a mooch in his future, and he enjoyed simple things.

The place they bought their ice was busy, due to the hot day. People bustled through, back and forth, and the old man who ran the place opted to stay home, since his leg hadn't been healing quite right. His son wasn't yet used to a harried summer day alone, and more than once cried out in frustration as he served the patrons. Uranai didn't think much of it and enjoyed the cool shop until he finally threw down his paper cap in frustration.

"I would do anything to get some peace and quiet around here. Anything, I swear!"

Uranai hummed to herself in interest, scooping up the last of the shaved ice into her mouth. "Hmm… Bold declarations like that can get you in trouble, sonny."

He didn't quite hear her, but he knew enough that he was being spoken to directly. His eyes centered on Uranai with confusion, trying to decipher what she might have said before finally asking, "Excuse me, ma'am?"

"I said you shouldn't say things you don't mean. You said you'd give anything for peace and quiet? Don't be so quick to give up something for a plentiful thing such as 'silence', _especially_ when you don't set the price of something yourself."

He took on the indignant look he preferred around the witch and turned away from her to pick up his paper hat.

Turtle had finished his own ice and had a very red mouth to show for it. "Sis, can we go through the bazaar?"

"I suppose. But no big toys, got me?"

.-.-.

The sun was close to setting by the time they left back towards their mother's house. After a good leisure to follow the blistering training, Uranai felt in good enough spirits to walk Turtle home instead of take a taxi or go to the station like they usually did. Turtle seemed to appreciate the change. The path out over the countryside went through forests, was delightfully overgrown, and patched with cobblestones, bricks, and the occasional uneven strip of cement. Clearly, it was an old road that had been rebuilt and repaired several times… none of this care actually being very permanent, or even well done. Still, it made for an interesting walk for a curious, explorative child, even if it wouldn't be kind to a car or even a horse.

The landscape tinted a slight red as the sun sank, and the stretch of land didn't seem to be just outside of a city anymore. Although mostly pastoral, the surroundings were picturesque, the fey, magical side of Nature, precious in how it's common. Rather poetic thoughts for the old fortuneteller to be thinking, eh?

Turtle made a nuisance of himself by running about and messing with anything a child can possibly mess with in and nearby the road, but Uranai wasn't much interested in corralling him back into step with her, and allowed him to run freely, only giving an occasional shout if it looked like he was branching a little too far to where she might not be able to sense him.

Halfway through this walk, as the red deepened and stained more of the grass, an odd feeling came to Uranai. She couldn't quite determine it until her ears perked up. "What's that?"

Turtle was close enough to hear his sister's question. "Huh? What's what?"

Uranai stopped walking and went still, eyes searching around. "Listen carefully. Can you hear that?"

The child followed his sister's example as a whistle grew with the wind. Something that sounded like a hunting whistle. Then he looked at his sister.

"I'm going to see what it is," she said, somewhat surprised at herself that she was so curious and that Turtle wasn't already running towards it. In fact, as she walked into the grass, she felt him hesitate before he followed.

Some tall, but otherwise sparse trees started to flank her as she went further away from the road. The whistle had stopped and she was scanning around, trying to remember which direction it was coming from. Turtle lagged behind her a few meters.

A gunshot echoed through the trees and her head flung her vision towards the sound, just in time to see a red fox, looking as if almost on fire from the sunset, run past with such a flurry she could barely make it out before it disappeared in the emerald-green bushes. A rumble followed, and two men on horseback galloped by, each holding a rifle. Another man followed, calling after them to halt and come back, but finally stopped and shook his head as others either ran past him or stopped by his side.

"What is wrong, mi'lord?" A man with a long, black mustache asked, looking confused at the stop, his own horse still stepping back and forth in anticipation.

The man he spoke to—a middle-aged man with a Western coat and a scowling, beardless face—put away his own rifle and turned his glare towards the trees. "I am surrounded by morons."

"Mi'lord?"

"They won't get the fox like that. Not to mention blasting off the way they did… I have half a mind to demote each and every one of them. If they're that easy to fall away from my orders for a mere fox, I don't know if I'd much like them to approach the situation if we were to fight the dragon."

"Dragon, mi'lord? We will be hunting a dragon?"

"No, not a such. The green dragon… will be hunting _us_."

"Excuse me!" Uranai called out and waved her hand, pulling a bewildered-looking child to her side with the other hand. "May I ask you to hold off your fire while we get out of this forest? We seemed to have wandered into your hunt accidentally."

The man ignored her and turned to the horizon with a brisk trot before he vanished.

Vanished, like an apparition.

Uranai blinked and took a moment to process what she had seen. "Oh. They weren't here." She looked down at her little brother. "Did you see that?"

"See what?" Turtle whined. "You're acting funny, sis."

"Huh, I suppose you didn't. Well, let's get out of these woods before it gets too late."

"M'kay."


End file.
